Page 95

“He was scared.”

“He may have been.” I walk to the table and put my phone down so I can give her my full attention. “Rick may be lying about the car, or he may be using a real discovery to make Connor look guilty. Connor may have left that car himself. We have to check all of it.”

She carefully sets the book on the table. “You sound like you’re preparing for Connor to be guilty.”

“I’m preparing to find him.”

“That’s a different answer from last night.”

Last night she asked me what I would do if Rick knew where Connor was. I promised to put finding him first, and I meant it. I still do. She has let me into her home and her bed, and now she wants me to share her certainty about her brother. I can’t give her that because I don’t have it.

“I meant what I told you,” I say. “I’ll follow what Connor left. I’ll also find out whether the car is his and who put it there.”

Cassie moves away from the table. The distance is only a few feet, but I feel it after waking beside her this morning. I know she wants an answer as badly as I do. I also know Connor’s name on a loan file would change what we understand about his disappearance, whether he put it there or someone else did.

She takes a breath. “I’m going to call the detective on Connor’s case.”

I nod. “That’s a good idea.”

“And I’m asking him about the car, not repeating Rick’s theory.” She looks up from her phone screen, waiting for my response.

“I wouldn’t ask you to.”

She walks toward the far side of the room. I let her make the call without standing over her. While she waits for an answer, my phone vibrates. Drew has the investigator’s name and is checking it. He has also asked Mercer to remain with Rick until they know whether the man makes any unexpected stops.

Cassie leaves a message for the detective and hangs up. She returns to the table, but doesn’t sit.

“I know you can’t promise me Connor did nothing wrong,” she says. “I’m angry because Rick wanted me to doubt him before he answered a single question about those numbers.”

Her phone rings before she can answer. Birdie’s name fills the screen, and Cassie puts the call on speaker. I move close enough to hear.

“Did you find another note?” Cassie asks.

“Not a note,” Birdie says. I hear a book close on her end of the call. “Harris photographed everything before I touched it.”

“What did you find?”

“The carton Connor opened wasn’t the only one he handled. I was checking the shelves beside it, and there’s a hardcover that should have gone into the donation stack. It’s one of Grandma’s old books. I know because she wrote her name inside the front cover.”

Cassie looks up at me. “How did one of Grandma’s books end up on the shelf with the donations?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you,” Birdie says. “Its spine has been repaired with dark cloth, but the cloth is coming loose at the top. There’s a narrow space under it, Cass. I can see the edge of something tucked inside.”

Cassie grips the back of the chair. “Did you pull it out?”

“No. Harris told me to call you first.” Birdie’s voice softens. “I thought you’d want to be the one to see what Connor left.”

15

CASSIE

I stare at Andrei while Birdie waits on the phone. Under the loose cloth on Grandma’s book, she can see the edge of whatever Connor hid. I want her to pull it free and tell me what it is, but she’s left it alone because she knows I want to be there.

“Don’t touch the spine again,” I tell her. “I’m coming back.”

“I put the book on the rear table,” Birdie says. “Harris photographed it on the shelf first, and he’s standing beside me looking as though I might open it when he blinks.”

“You might,” Harris says in the background.